Unlike many other full members, associates and affiliates, where teams are largely made up of expatriates, Nepal's national team comprises indigenous players who have usually come through the ranks playing age-group cricket.[4]

Cricket was introduced to Nepal in 1892 by the then ruling Rana dynasty after they returned from their visits to England. The game was exclusively played among the elite back then. The Cricket Association of Nepal was formed in 1946 to promote cricket within the aristocrat community.[5]

Improvements to the communication and transport infrastructures in Nepal allowed the game to expand outside Kathmandu in the 1980s[5] and Nepal became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council in 1988.[1] A major development programme was begun in the early 1990s, with regional and district tournaments established and cricket being promoted in schools.[5]

Interest in cricket increased quickly, and demand to play was such that teams in tournaments had to be restricted until more facilities were built in the mid 90s.[5] Nepal became an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council in 1996,[1] which was the year the national side played for the first time, in the ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur, in which Nepal finished fourth out of six teams in their first round group, beating Brunei and Japan.

Nepal played their first ever Twenty20 International series against Hong Kong in November 2014 in Sri Lanka. Initially the series was scheduled for three matches[9] but only one match was played because of continuous rain and poor ground conditions.[10] Nepal lost the match but Sompal Kami put in impressive performance by scoring 40 off 31 balls,[11] coming in at No. 10. This is a world-record for the highest score made by a batsman at that position.[12]

Nepal were runners-up to the UAE in the 2002 ACC Trophy in Singapore[16] and they hosted the ACC Emerging Nations Tournament in 2003, winning easily against Bhutan and the Maldives. They won so comprehensively that they were not invited back to the tournament the next time it was played in 2005.[5]Raju Khadka became the first Nepalese cricketer to score an international century, when he slammed an unbeaten 105 off just 50 balls against Bhutan in the tournament.[17]

In the 2006 ACC Trophy, Nepal bowled Myanmar out for just 10 off 12.1 overs after Nepal won the toss and sent Myanmar in; no batsman scored more than one, the innings included five ducks, and extras top scored with five (three leg byes and two wides). Mehboob Alam and Binod Das picked up seven wickets and three wickets respectively.[26] In reply, Nepal hit three off the first ball, followed by three wides that went for five, and then hit another three from the second legitimate delivery to win by ten wickets. Some critics called it the greatest mismatch in the history of international cricket[27] and the score of 10 is the lowest in any level of men's international cricket. They finished fourth in the tournament after losing to Afghanistan in a play-off.[28] They won the ACC Premier League in 2006.[29]

Nepal finished fifth in the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup after beating Singapore by 9 wickets in the playoff for fifth place.[36] In a group match against Kuwait, Nepal needed 7 runs off the last ball to win. Binod Bhandari, making his debut for the national team, hit a last-ball six to tie the match. Eventually Nepal won the match in bowl-out.[37]

Nepal bowled out Myanmar for just 10 off 12.1 overs in 2006 ACC Trophy and chased the target of 11 in just 0.2 overs. The score of 10 was the lowest in any level of men's international cricket. Nepal set two records of bowling out the opponent for minimum number of runs and chasing the target in minimum overs, both in the same match.[26]